After an offseason in which the Maple Leafs, Flyers, Devils and Oilers all announced they had hired analytics experts, the advanced statistics movement is officially in vogue not only with NHL front offices, but with some TV networks as well. The use of advanced metrics, particularly those tracking puck possession, has begun to change the way some fans watch and understand the game. The Sabres have been incorporating Corsi -- a metric used as an indicator for puck possession by examining the difference between a team’s shots for and against -- into their broadcasts since the beginning of last season, and TSN over the summer formed its own analytics team to incorporate metrics into their telecasts and online content.
BREAKING THE ICE: The Sabres last summer while discussing ways to improve their regional TV broadcasts on MSG Network decided to incorporate some advanced metrics. Sabres TV Producer Joe Pinter said that there were several obstacles to doing so, including the fact that the team was limited to stats officially tracked by the league. But because Corsi is calculated with shots on goal, missed shots and blocked shots -- all of which the league logs -- it proved easy to calculate during games. Studio host Brian Duff made an effort to explain Corsi and its significance during each early-season broadcast and regularly throughout the year. The team actually replaced its age-old first intermission statistics with a graphic that paired Corsi and a shot chart. Pinter said that feedback from viewers was mostly positive, and producers around the league reached out about the Sabres’ use of analytics in their broadcasts.
NUMBER CRUNCHING: While TSN lost the NHL national broadcast rights in Canada to Rogers starting this season, the net will still air regional telecasts of more than 130 Maple Leafs, Senators and Jets games. The net late last March began devising a strategy for making analytics a front-and-center part of its NHL coverage, both on its broadcasts and online. TSN Senior Managing Editor for Hockey Steve Dryden said, “The objective is accessible analytics. ... The fans that weren’t as engaged in it in the past -- now, I think, feel that they need to be able to fully understand how their teams are doing because they see that it’s such an important part of the planning process.” The net announced last month that it had formed an analytics team by bringing on the Globe & Mail’s James Mirtle and stats guru Travis Yost to join staffer Scott Cullen. Mirtle will be most visible on the air, serving as a pregame analyst for the net’s 26 Leafs telecasts. Analytics are a key storyline for the Leafs this season, as the team had gained a reputation for being resistant to the analytics movement and had a track record for struggling with puck possession before assembling an entire analytics department over the summer. Dryden: “The Maple Leafs have made themselves front and center in all of this, so it makes all the sense in the world for us to focus on that.” Yost will contribute semi-weekly, number-based columns to TSN.ca, and Cullen will have a larger presence on both on-air programming and online.
DEVELOPING SITUATION: Rogers Dir of Communications for Sportsnet & NHL Properties Jennifer Neziol in a statement wrote the net will “definitely be incorporating analytics” into its broadcasts this season. She added while no plans have been finalized, there will be a “special segment devoted” to statistical analysis during the national telecasts. Meanwhile, NBC Sports Exec Producer Sam Flood in a statement wrote the net is “studying what analytical content might work for TV,” but believes hockey “is a game based on creativity, vision, skill and heart.” Flood: “Numbers can provide insights, but we’re not sure numbers can adequately capture those crucial talents.”
